Modernity as a concept is not something that should be, or is, exclusively generated in the West, but is also a product of time and place. Why should modernity be exclusively restricted to the standards used in the West?

Are these films really the new cinema, worthy of the hype and celebration and the new directors really the new stars and trail-blazers offering pulsating, exciting, no-holds-barred, creative chutzpah that separates the real from the fluff?

Frankly, India of the late 1960s was totally unprepared for Rajesh Khanna. The film industry, blown out of its mind, christened him Superstar. Stardust, the new iconoclastic, irreverent and deliciously chatpata new film magazine on the block, baptized him the Phenomenon and sold out its maiden issue within days just via banners enquiring whether Rajesh will/has married his girlfriend (at that time) Anju Mahendru?

Music is the essential stressbuster for many Bollywood stars, trying to cope with erratic shooting schedules, hectic travel and long hours under the arclights, not to mention the unrelenting paparazzi gaze.

“The National Awards, sadly, are no longer what they used to be, with the favoritism, regionalism,politics and quid-pro-quo rampant. However, compared to the scores of others they are still streets ahead.

The awkward fact remains that although Bollywood is the world’s largest movie factory, we don’t register even a hiccup in this gala, global, mega feast. Historically we have been conditioned and programmed to believe that it’s not the winning or losing, but participation that is the key.

Dancers say the popularity of Latino dances lies in the inherent joyousness, the friendships it generates on the floor across cultural divides — and the free-flowing body language, open to improvisations.

What’s with this place that causes celeb couples to embrace fatal attraction? Is it really a royal jinx for the glitterati, hypnotized by the color and romance of this amazing state, only to be doomed in their relationship?

Over time, serious contenders, such as Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgun and Hrithik Roshan, enjoyed their moments (they still do), but all things considered, the Khan trio between them seem to have hijacked the popular imagination and developed an unmatched and unprecedented fan base across the globe.